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MG MGB Technical - Landcrab Crankshaft

Are the "Landcrab" 1800 engine crankshafts compatable with the 5 bearing MGB crankshafts, I have 2 engines which are in good condition but am loathe to remove the crankshafts for stock if they are not any use n an MGB.

Rgds Trevor B.
t burnett

Personally I've not heard of those in conjunction with MGB engines, Marina and Sherpa van yes, although the Marina at least is said to be cast instead of forged like the MGB so not as strong.
PaulH Solihull

Can't imagine they are that different, but the flywheel was probably different, but location etc., the same. Early MGB cranks were forged steel but the Post BL cranks were cast. Apart from ultimate strength, the cast cranks had the advantage of being lighter and in "normal" use, or even mildly tuned state, not a serious disadvantage.
Allan Reeling

Wouldn't the flywheel end of the crankshaft be completely different on the Landcrab? The clutch arrangement on the A-series engine meant that the crank ended in a taper, not a bolt-through flange. I have always assumed the B-series used in the transverse engined cars would be the same. Am I wrong?
Mike Howlett

The A1800 engine will go into the B with just a few minor mods so I am pretty sure the crank is the same. I feel you may need to play with the spigot bearing. Denis
Denis4

The Landcrab engine was a B series not A.

Back in the days, a local distributor offered Landcrabs with engines tuned to B specs. Don't know about the crank.

Herb
Herb Adler

Trevor is asking if the crankshafts are the same. I'm well aware that the 1800 used a B-series engine - my father-in-law had one which I used to work on. What I'm saying is that although many engine parts will be the same as for an MGB, the crankshaft is likely to be completely different due to the Issigonis design of the gearbox in the sump, necessitating an unusual clutch design and the use of transfer gears. Certainly a Mini crank is useless in a Midget, and so I suspect an 1800 crank will be useless in an MGB.
Mike Howlett

IIRC this has been discussed in the past. Trevor, I suggest you try the archives.
R Taylor

Trevor, this article may be of interest:

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgccz/Articles/ZB1800upgrade.pdf
David Overington

Yes, the Landcrab crank is the same as the B, I used one in my B for a decade or two. In fact I fitted the whole engine. It was a 1971 Landcrab engine, had the big-valve (1-5/8") head and the flat sided crank 9not cast). Fitted in 1980, bored to 1972cc, and did over a decade of hard work including a lot of competition miles.
Paul Walbran

Well, there you go. I stand corrected. Sorry for the false info.
Mike Howlett

Hi guys,

The landcrab had a conventional flywheel/clutch arrangement, the transfer gears ran in a casing right on the end, not having a transfer gear and a back to front clutch like a mini.

Not a nice job, we all used to hide if one came in for a clutch job when I worked at a BL dealer in the 80's.

I always thought the actual engines were interchangeable with the in-line cars, just swop the sump and oil pick up pipes over, but never actually tried it.
SR Smith 1

There is a little bit of work to do in swapping the engines, but not much. from memory:
The dipstick needs to be shifted (under the alternator on Landcrab)
The rear main cap oil drain is different
The bolts at the sump face are bigger. Some drill the sump out, I pluged & tapped the holes in the block.
The oil pump pickup is via a gallery in the block. this needs to be plugged properly at the pump mounting face or air will leak into the pump. The gallery also interferes with the front left hand engine mount bracket, so some faffing around there.
And a couple of bolt holes on the backplate were in a different place so need sorting.
Paul Walbran

This thread was discussed between 13/02/2013 and 15/02/2013

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